


Home(s) for the Holiday(s)

by lenasmagic (dimensionhoppingrose)



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Christmas, Family, First Holiday Trope, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Hanukkah, Holidays, holiday fluff, mostly all fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:02:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21945547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimensionhoppingrose/pseuds/lenasmagic
Summary: Going from zero families for zero holidays to two families for two holidays is definitely an interesting experience. Not that Lena minds much.
Relationships: Lena (Disney: DuckTales) & Violet Sabrewing, Lena (Disney: DuckTales) & Violet Sabrewing & Webby Vanderquack, Lena (Disney: DuckTales) & Webby Vanderquack
Comments: 3
Kudos: 97





	Home(s) for the Holiday(s)

**Author's Note:**

> IMPORTANT NOTE: I am *not* Jewish, and got pretty much all of my information from my Jewish wife or the internet. If anything I said is wrong or offensive, *please* tell me so I can fix it.
> 
> (I just really like the idea of Lena celebrating two different holidays and also realizing that Launchpad has been alone for Hannukah for years and relating to him in a weird way because she's never had anyone to celebrate anything with)
> 
> Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and happy holidays to all <3

“ _ Merry Christmas _ !”

Lena groaned, looking at her alarm clock. It was just after seven a.m. “You’re insane,” she mumbled, burying her face in her pillow. Webby giggled.

“ _ You’re still coming over for dinner, right? And presents? _ ”

Lena lifted her head to look at the bag in the corner. All of her present ideas suddenly seemed  _ really _ stupid. “Wouldn’t miss it. What time is food?”

“ _ Two. But we’re doing presents now! Wait, did I wake you up? _ ”

“Don’t worry about it.” Lena smothered a yawn. “I’ll be there in an hour. Or two. Depends on how many pancakes I can eat before Nico has time to put more in front of me.”

“ _ Who runs away from pancakes? _ ”

“Someone who’s been eating for half an hour while the cook keeps saying, ‘eat more, you’ve clearly never had a meal in your life.’” Lena stumbled out of bed, rubbing her eyes. “See you soon, Pink.”

The Sabrewing household was already fully awake — Violet and her dads woke up  _ stupidly _ early. Lena had never slept later than sunrise, and appreciated every chance she got to sleep until noon.

“ _ Gimel _ !” She heard Harry announce proudly as she made her way downstairs.

“Do you feel good about taking chocolate from your own daughter?” was Violet’s dry response.

“Absolutely. Do you have enough for another round?”

“I believe in responsible gambling. I’ll take my winnings and walk away from the table.”

Lena walked into the kitchen just in time to see the devastated look on Harry’s face as Violet collected her small pile of chocolate coins. Nico was at the stove, flipping pancakes and trying not to laugh. “I’ll play,” Lena piped up.

“You cheat,” Violet said matter-of-factly. She wasn’t wrong, but that didn’t stop Lena from taking offense.

“I would never.”

“So it’s a coincidence that the dreidel turns pink right before it lands on  _ gimel _ ?”

“No chocolate before breakfast,” Nico said, turning back to the table with a stack of pancakes. Lena quickly swiped a coin from Violet and tucked it away for later. “You’re awake early,  _ pájaro rosado _ .”

“Webby wants me to go over early.” Lena yawned, collapsing into her seat. “Dunno why, it’s not like I’m family or anything. I’m  _ still _ not sure Tea Time even likes me.”

“You may be able to clear up that concern by using her actual name,” Violet pointed out, taking a couple pancakes. She ate a surprising amount for someone so small.

“That’s no fun. Are you  _ sure _ you don’t want to come with me?”

“As fascinating as it sounds to partake in a McDuck Christmas celebration, I feel it’s safer to stay home and play Dreidel with Papi.”

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Harry asked curiously. “Time travel?”

“That’s so last Christmas,” Lena said. “Literally, Scrooge and Dewey time traveled last Christmas. Partying with Christmas spirits and all that.”

“And people think we’re weird for lighting candles,” Nico said, shaking his head. “Make sure you’re home by five-thirty.”

“I’ll be home in an hour if Della and Donald are still singing Christmas carols.”

* * *

The good news? Donald and Della weren’t still singing Christmas carols. The bad news? Scrooge and Dewey had joined in, making the terrible singing duo a nightmare quartet.

“Haven’t they ever heard of  _ harmonizing _ ?” Lena asked, grimacing when Duckworth opened the door and the sound hit her.

“I don’t believe so.”

“Lenaaaaaaaaa!” Webby ambushed her the minute she walked in, hugging her tight. “Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas, Pink.” Lena laughed, returning the hug. “So have you just gone deaf, or…?”

“They’re actually not so bad after the first five hours or so.” Lena did not believe that for a minute. She looked over to the corner, where Launchpad was joyfully playing the piano while the adults stood around him singing, and Dewey danced on the piano.

“If you say so. Come on, I’ve got presents for you guys.”

“Oh, so do we!” Webby said cheerfully. “I mean, we have presents for you.”

“You what?”

Sure enough, there was a small pile of wrapped presents still set aside when Webby dragged Lena into the den. Huey and Louie were still in there, playing on their phones while they listened to their family sing. “Seriously, you guys  _ hear _ that, right?” Lena asked, gesturing back toward the foyer.

“Not really,” Louie said. “They’ve been singing since like, five.”

“It gets easier to ignore, don’t worry,” Huey added. “Merry Christmas.”

“You too.” Lena flopped on the couch, going through her bag. “Here, nerd, this one’s for you, and Green, this is for you.”

“Do you ever use  _ names _ ?” Louie asked as he took the offered gift, and Huey did the same.

“Nicknames are a sign of affection.”

“Even nerd?”

Lena held up a finger, waiting for Huey to finish unwrapping his present — a book. “101 Useless Facts No One Needs to Know,” he read the title, and lit up. “Cool!”

“Okay, point taken,” Louie ceded, starting on his own gift. Lena tried to get Webby’s out next, but the duckling was already shoving something into her hands.

“This one’s from Granny.”

“Your grandmother bought me something?”

“Probably made it, actually. Everyone got a hand-knitted something from her.”

“Except Webby, she got a handmade dagger and sheath.”

Lena had so many questions about all of these things, but decided it was best not to ask. “Nice,” Louie said appreciatively, turning over his new wallet in his hands.

“It turns red when you’re about to do something stupid,” Lena explained. “Since money management doesn’t seem like your thing.”

That got her a glare; she smirked back, unwrapping her own present. Sure enough, it was a knitted sweater, almost identical to the one she was wearing, though much softer.

“ _ On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me _ —”

“No!” Huey and Louie shouted at the same time, running out of the room to hopefully put an end to the singing madness. Thank god.

“They’re not  _ that _ bad.”

“They really are, though.” Lena finally got Webby’s present out — it was a thin, rectangular package. Webby grabbed another present for Lena at the same time.

“This one’s from me.”

They traded, and Lena carefully set to work with unwrapping. It was a journal; a handmade journal with customized pages and little notes like  _ remember how awesome you are _ in the margins, little drawings of Super Webby, and a braided bookmark that resembled their friendship bracelets (Webby’s colors intertwined with Lena’s) tied to the top ring.

“Jeez, Webs…” Lena was stunned as she flipped through it, taking note of a few other margins scribblings; reminders to drink water, go to sleep, call your best friend when you see this (that one came up a  _ lot _ ), and so many others. “This must’ve taken forever.”

“Do you like it?” Webby asked anxiously, bouncing a little. There was a calligraphy pen tucked into the rings. Lena carefully pulled it out and opened up to the first page. She dated it, then wrote on the first line:

_ Today my best friend gave me the coolest present ever _ .

Webby giggled, hugging Lena tight. “Come on, you still have to open  _ your _ present,” Lena said, nudging her. She tried to ignore the anxious knots in her stomach as Webby ripped right into the paper. She’d like it. Of course she would like it. It was Webby. But what if Webby just pretended to like it so she wouldn’t hurt Lena’s feelings? What if—

“ _ Whoa _ .”

It was a framed drawing that Lena had been working on for at least a month — a rather elaborate painting of Webby, in front of a setting sun. When tilted the right way, the picture shifted slightly, showing a Lena-shaped shadow against her back.

“This is amazing.” Webby’s mouth was hanging open. “Did you—?”

Lena shrugged, suddenly self conscious. “Yeah. It was just an idea I had, you know… a while ago.” When she had still  _ been _ Webby’s shadow.

“And the way it changes — is that magic?”

“Just a little bit.” Lena wiggled her fingers, smirking. “Some hocus pocus, if you will.”

Webby very,  _ very _ carefully set the frame aside before tackling Lena; they both fell back on the couch, hugging and laughing. “I love it.” Her voice was surprisingly small. “Thank you.”

Lena returned the hug, closing her eyes and just enjoying the moment.

It was a  _ surprisingly _ normal day by McDuck Manor standards; Christmas spirits showed up for some partying; two of the cousins came by, and Lena immediately did  _ not _ like Gladstone. Every single thing about him felt weird and off and like the universe changed just to accommodate him. She felt a  _ little _ better when he bent over to pick up a twenty-dollar bill and Huey (with the help of a magical nudge) tripped and knocked Gladstone over. The commotion sent the bill fluttering to Donald’s feet; his expression was one of absolute disbelief as he picked the money up.

“That was mean,” Webby whispered to Lena through her smothered laughter.

“The universe demands balance,” Lena whispered back, nodding like she knew what she was talking about.

It was just rounding five when Lena’s phone went off — a text from Violet reminding her she needed to be home, and that Webby was invited. “I gotta go,” she said quickly, gathering up her bag (now filled with gifts to her from various family members), and trying to figure out how fast she could walk. Maybe she could try teleporting again…

“Do ye need a ride?” Scrooge asked. “You’re welcome to borrow Launchpad.”

Lena looked at Launchpad, who was flipping through a new Darkwing Duck comic, and shrugged. “Sure, why not. I’ve already cheated death once. You wanna come, Webs? It’s nothing much compared to this, just lighting candles and something about a blanket fort…”

“That sounds like fun!” Webby said immediately, jumping up. “Let’s go!”

They said their goodbyes and hurried out to the car. “You said something about candles, right?” Launchpad asked once they were on the road, looking casually at the girls over his shoulder.

“Please watch the road,” Lena said nervously. She didn’t like cars or buses or planes much. Launchpad’s casual indifference to all road rules made it worse.

“I’ll get you there safe, don’t worry.” He swerved around an incoming car at that moment, and Lena had to close her eyes. “So, are you Jewish?”

“Not really.” Lena dared to open one eye. “Violet’s dads are, though, and I’m staying with them.”

“It’s fun, isn’t it? Like you said, not as flashy as Christmas, but my parents had all kinds of crazy traditions for each night.”

Lena finally opened both eyes and noticed the sweater Launchpad was wearing; hand-stitched and blue, with a menorah stitched in white into the pattern. “ _ You’re _ Jewish?” Lena wasn’t sure why the idea surprised her so much. “Do you just do the whole Christmas shebang because of everyone else?”

“I like playing piano.” He shrugged, jumping the curb as he took a sharp turn. “I have a menorah in my room, so I can celebrate on my own. It’s electric, though. Mrs. B said I wasn’t allowed to use candles after the fifth fire.”

Beakley had the right idea, as far as Lena was concerned.

It was just after five-twenty when they arrived at the Sabrewing house, miraculously unharmed. It was only then that Lena realized he probably wouldn’t get home on time to turn on his own menorah. She hesitated for a minute before saying, “Hey, do you wanna… ya know, come in? Light the menorah with everyone?”

She was mostly sure Harry and Nico wouldn’t mind. Especially when Launchpad lit up and immediately said, “Absolutely!”

Nico greeted them at the door with a warm smile and a questioning look. “This is Launchpad,” Lena said quickly, gesturing to the man. “He works for Scrooge, and he’s not gonna get home in time to light his own menorah, so I thought…”

“He’s absolutely welcome to join us!” Harry called from the living room. “We just finished the blanket fort and we’re starting a new game of Dreidel if you’re interested.”

“I haven’t played that in years!” Launchpad practically bounced into the living room.

“Can I play, too?” Webby asked, hurrying after him. Lena was about to join when Nico tugged her into a light, one-armed hug.

“That was very kind of you, Lena,” he said with a small smile.

“You’re not mad?”

“Of course not. The more the merrier. And maybe someone can finally de-throne Harry.” He added that last part with a wink before nudging Lena toward the living room. 

Nico finished preparing the menorah while Harry dealt out the golden-wrapped chocolate coins, and Launchpad excitedly explained the rules to Webby (with a little help from Violet when Launchpad wasn’t  _ quite _ coherent).

“All right, settle down,” Nico finally called. “You know the rules, games wait until after the candles have burnt down. Everyone ready?”

Webby snuggled into Lena’s side, bright-eyed and smiling. The teen was surprised when Violet rested her head on her opposite shoulder.

“ _ Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, _ ” Nico began, carefully lighting each candle,” _ asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tsivanu l’hadlik ner shel Hanukkah. _ ”

Lena looked back at Launchpad; he was cross-legged and beaming, the candles shining in his dark eyes. Maybe they could invite him back for the last four nights. No one deserved to be alone on the holidays. She closed her eyes, smiling to herself.

“ _ Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, sheasah nisim la’avoteinu bayamim hahem bazman hazeh. _ ”

**Author's Note:**

> Don't tell me Scrooge wouldn't go all out and sing for Della's first Christmas home. He's a soft dork and we all know it.


End file.
